Core tray

ABSTRACT

A core tray constructed of a lightweight material with individual flutes each having an arc shaped bottom, to accommodate a cylindrical core sample, and upstanding side and divider walls, to separate one sample from another. The core tray has sloping side walls terminating at their upper ends in rounded shoulders and legs are formed on the bottoms of the side walls. Rounded junctions are formed between the legs and tray bottom, which are arranged such that the top of one core tray will slide easily into the bottom of another tray stacked thereon between the legs of the upper tray. The rounded shoulder at the top of one tray fits closely into the rounded junction of another tray, and handles inset into the ends of each tray are constructed to have a finger ridge therein by which a person may securely grasp the trays during handling.

United States Patent 1191 Lybbert et al.

[ CORE TRAY [75] Inventors: Lyle Dean Lybbert; Daniel H.

Atwood, both of Magrath, Alberta, Canada [73] Assignee: Daniel H. Atwood, Magrath,

Alberta, Canada 22 Filed: Apr. 26, 1971 21 Appl.No.: 137,170

[52] US. Cl 220/23.6, 220/20, 220/238, 206/65 K [51] Int. Cl. A47g 19/00 [58] Field of Search 220/20, 23.6, 23.8; 206/65 R, 65 K, 72

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,352,684 7/1944 Braddock 220/23.6 3,581,929 6/1971 Guenard et a1. 206/65 R 2,807,387 9/1957 Siciliano 220/20 X 3,424,334 1/1969 Goltz 220/236 2,950,029 8/1960 Winstead.... 206/65 K UX 3,195,770 7/1965 Robertson 220/236 Jan. 1,1974

Primary ExaminerAllen N. Knowles Attorney-B. Deon Criddle [57] ABSTRACT A Core tray constructed of a lightweight material with individual flutes each having an are shaped bottom, to accommodate a cylindrical core sample, and upstanding side and divider walls, to separate one sample from another. The core tray has sloping side walls terminating at their upper ends in rounded. shoulders and legs are formed on the bottoms of the side walls. Rounded junctions are formed between the legs and tray bottom, which are arranged such that the top of one core tray will slide easily into the bottom of another tray stacked thereon between the legs of the upper tray. The rounded shoulder at the top of one tray fits closely into therounded junction of another tray, and handles inset into the ends of each tray are c0nstructed to have a finger ridge therein by which a per son may securely grasp the trays during handling.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDJAN 1 3.782.582

INVENTORS LYLE DEAN LYBBERT' DANIEL H. ATWOOD ATTORNEY CORE TRAY BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to containers for housing core samples obtained during mining or construction operations.

2. Prior Art In test boring for ores and minerals and during construction operations such as the building of highways and dams, it is frequently necessary to drill into the earth for as far as hundreds of feet. The boring operations produce cores which are in the form of cylinders of material that represent the composition of the earth through which the drilling occurs. The cores themselves represent portions of a total core extending from the earths surface to the bottom of the drill hole. The cores must be identified as to the depth from which they were taken, so that proper analysis can be made of the earth materials at that level. The cores obtained represent the product of an expensive and time consuming drilling operation and are quite valuable. Frequently, too, they must be available for confirmation studies and for further studies as the mining or construction operations continue.

Presently, wooden core trays are most commonly used for storing the cores removed from test holes. These wooden trays consist of a box with spaced wooden dividers. The cores are placed between the dividers and the location of the sample and the depths from which the cores were removed are marked on the end of the box or on the dividers. The wooden core trays are stacked with other similarly constructed and filled trays in a storage shack. The shack is often of a rather temporary nature and the elements can eventually act on the wood trays. Under these conditions, boxes are subject to warping and shrinkage and the samples may get wet and deteriorate. Dust and dirt may settle on the samples and the core constituents may fall through cracks formed in the wooden trays. Consequently, samples may be lost and/or intermingled such that desired information cannot be obtained. In addition, wooden trays have been found to be expensive, bulky, and heavy and to lack the desired durability for their intended use.

In U.S. Pat. No. 3,196,229, there is disclosed a plastic core box that is an improvement over the conventional wood tray. This patent discloses a box including a first divider with integral end and side walls forming a polygon, a continuous, rigid separator within the polygon affixed to the walls thereof which is corrugated with ridges and valleys on the top and undersides thereof, with the valleys holding the cores and the ridges sepa rating the valleys from one another. A second divider fits over the first with valleys on the underside of the second fitting over the valleys in the first. Releasable bolt means are used to clamp the dividers together, with core samples between them.

While the core tray of U.S. Pat. No. 3,l96,229 may be very satisfactory in many respects and constitutes an improvement over the wooden trays most commonly used, it is not entirely satisfactory for all uses. It is desirable that core trays, while securely protecting core sample provide easy access to the cores and easy handling of the trays both when empty and when filled with samples. In addition, they must have sufficient strength that they can be handled, even as individual trays. Furthermore, it is desirable that individual trays can be SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Principal objects of the present invention are to provide an easily handled, low-cost, durable core tray in which core samples can be stored separate from one another in an arrangement such that the samples do not mix and such that the samples are entirely protected.

Other objects are to provide a tray constructed such that it can readily be stacked with others of the same kind but such that it can be readily withdrawn from the stack, no matter where it may be located in the stack, without disassembly of the entire stack.

Principal features of the present invention include a formed tray having semi-cylindrical flutes which are divided from one another by vertical partitions or dividers. The flutes can be constructed with different radii to accommodate different sizes of core samples, should this be desired.

Two exterior side walls of the tray are inclined outwardly from the top of the tray to spaced, parallel feet formed at the bottom. The top of the tray is just slightly less wide than is the portion of the bottom between the feet and the feet extend the full length of the tray at the sides thereof. The edges of the top are curved to conform to curved junctions between the bottom of the tray and the downwardly and outwardly extending tray feet and the feet themselves are provided with curved inside bottom edges. Thus, the top of one tray is inserted into the bottom of another, a close fit is obtained between the curved junctions and edges. The bottom of one tray will, therefore, provide a close fitting lid for the top of the tray beneath.

When filled with core samples the trays are rather heavy. Thus, it can be rather difficult, on occasion to lift one tray from another, particularly if they have been stacked quite high. The curved configurations of the feet, the junctions between the feet and the tray bottoms, and the top edges of the tray allow a tray above to easily cam over and to slide on a tray below as it is removed from the stack.

Still another features is the inset handle means at the ends of each tray. The handle means have internal lips to be grasped as the tray is handled, and, being integrally formed into the trays do not have a tendency to separate from the tray. The handle can, therefore, be used either to lift the trays or to pull them.

Additional objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and drawings, disclosing what is presently contemplated as being the best mode of the invention.

THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a core tray of the invention;

FIG. 2, a transverse section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3, a fragmentary longitudinal section line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4, an end elevation view of a typical stack of the core trays of the invention, showing a lid fitted over the top tray of the stack; and

FIG. 5, a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings:

In the illustrated preferred embodiment the core tray is shown generally at 10. The tray includes slanted end walls 11 and 12 and side walls 13 and 14. Each of the walls is inclined outwardly from a top 15 to a tray bottom 16 and the side walls extend beyond the bottom to form feet 13a and 14a, respectively, at opposite ends of the tray.

The feet 13a and 14a extend for the longitudinal length of the tray and a curved junction 17 is formed between each foot and the bottom 16, directly beneath a corresponding curved shoulder 18 at the outside tops of the side walls. Because the junctions 17 and shoulders 18 are correspondingly curved and are aligned, trays can be stacked one upon another with the shoulders 18 of each tray below nesting in the junction 17 of the one above. The stack thus made is very stable and each tray 10 above serves as a lid, tightly sealing side edges of the tray beneath.

A handle means 20 is formed in each of the end walls 11 and 12. The handle means are centrally located with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tray and each comprise a recess 21 extending into the lower portion of an end wall and upwardly to form a lip 22. In using the handle means fingers are inserted into recess 21 and curl upwardly around lip 22. A lifting force is then applied directly to the end wall, which is integral with the other parts of the tray and no separate handles are required that could break away from the body of the tray.

The lips 22 also provide means whereby the trays can be pulled as well as lifted. Thus, if a tray in a stack is to be longitudinally removed the tray above can be raised slightly and the tray to be removed can be pulled free merely by grasping a lip 22.

The curved junctions 17, shoulders 18 and curved edges 13b and 14b on the inside bottoms of feet 13 and 14, respectively, also insure easy removal of the trays in a stack in a direction transverse to their longitudinal axis, should this be necessary. Thus, if a user will grasp the handle means 20 at both ends of a tray and pull it from the stack in the transverse direction, the curved junction 17 will easily ride up and over the curved shoulder 18 on which it is rested and the curved edges 13b and 14b will allow continued easy travel. Thus it is not necessary to lift the trays free to remove trays from the stack. This is of particular importance when stacks of core trays are close together or they are stacked very high. It is also important when the samples themselves are heavy and lifting is desirably maintained at a minimum.

As best seen in FIG. 5, the recesses 21 are arranged such that when the trays are stacked the recesses are outward of the tops of the end walls and the tops of the end walls of the tray beneath engage the bottoms of the tray above, thus insuring a tight seal at the ends of each tray below.

The uppermost tray 10 in each stack can be left empty, to serve solely as a lid, or a separate lid 30 can be used. As shown, lid 30 completely covers the top of a tray 10 and has a depending skirt 31 toflt closely around the side and end walls of the top tray.

The tray and top of the invention are preferably formed of a low-cost lightweight material such as foam plastic. The design is particularly adapted to such a construction since it is one piece, inherently strong and does not require attachment of handles or other components.

Longitudinal flutes are formed in the tray by spaced upstanding divider walls 35 that extend from end wall 11 to end wall 12. The bottom 10 of the tray is arcuately formed at 1011 between the adjacent walls 35 and between the side walls 13 and 14 and their adjacent walls 35. Core samples placed in the tray are then securely nested and protected in the flutes. The size of the flutes and of the tray will be dependent upon the size samples to be obtained and such factors as the overall weight desired of each loaded tray.

Although a preferred form of our invention has been herein disclosed, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is by way of example and that variations are possible without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims, which subject matter we regard as our invention.

We claim:

1. A core tray comprising spaced end walls;

spaced side walls connected to said end walls, the tops of said spaced end walls and spaced side walls forming a continuous, level, uppermost surface of the tray;

a'bottom interconnecting said end and side walls whereby said end and side walls are inclined outwardly from their tops to engagement with the bottom;

a curved shoulder formed at the outermost top edge of each side wall;

continuations of the end walls forming feet projecting downwardly below the bottom, the innermost bottom edges of the feet being curved, whereby the tray will readily slide up and over a shoulder of a tray stacked therebeneath when pulled;

a curved, outwardly extending junction of each foot with the bottom, aligned beneath each curved shoulder, the curved shoulder being adapted to closely nest in the curved junction therebelow;

spaced upstanding divider walls between the side walls and extending between the end walls; and

handle means formed in each of the end walls.

2. A core tray as in claim 1, wherein the bottom between adjacent side walls and divider walls and between adjacent divider walls is arcuately curved to receive core samples therein.

3. A core tray as in claim 2, wherein the handle means comprises recesses extending inwardly and upwardly in the end walls; and

a downwardly projecting lip is formed at the inlet to each recess. 7

4. A core tray as in claim 2, formed entirely of foam plastic. 

1. A core tray comprising spaced end walls; spaced side walls connected to said end walls, the tops of said spaced end walls and spaced side walls forming a continuous, level, uppermost surface of the tray; a bottom interconnecting said end and side walls whereby said end and side walls are inclined outwardly from their tops to engagement with the bottom; a curved shoulder formed at the outermost top edge of each side wall; continuations of the end walls forming feet projecting downwardly below the bottom, the innermost bottom edges of the feet being curved, whereby the tray will readily slide up and over a shoulder of a tray stacked therebeneath when pulled; a curved, outwardly extending junction of each foot with the bottom, aligned beneath each curved shoulder, the curved shoulder being adapted to closely nest in the curved junction therebelow; spaced upstanding divider walls between the side walls and extending between the end walls; and handle means formed in each of the end walls.
 2. A core tray as in claim 1, wherein the bottom between adjacent side walls and divider walls and between adjacent divider walls is arcuately curved to receive core samples therein.
 3. A core tray as in claim 2, wherein the handle means comprises recesses extending inwardly and upwardly in the end walls; and a downwardly projecting lip is formed at the inlet to each recess.
 4. A core tray as in claim 2, formed entirely of foam plastic. 